Main navigation

Whiskey Wednesday 3

If you have ever seen wine drinkers swirl their glass and take a sniff of their wine before drinking it, it isn’t just because they are pretentious snobs.

Whiskey drinkers are also, occasionally, seen swirling the glass and sniffing it prior to drinking. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, after a good swirl of the first pour (careful not to spill any) hold the glass up so that light shines through. You can see the liquid run down the sides. The lines of running liquid are referred to as legs. The legs on whiskey are thicker and slower, which indicates higher alcohol content. Compare your whiskey legs to wine legs sometime and you will see the difference. Trust me, my whiskey legs are definitely thicker and slower than many of my wine drinking friends legs!

Next, take a small and gentle sniff of the liquid in the glass, with your mouth slightly open. Do this directly after the swirl. This allows you to smell the alcohol, and also allow the evaporating alcohols to take their first dance on your taste buds.

While it isn’t necessary to do this, it does give you an added level of enjoyment to drinking whiskey. Plus, it looks kind of cool.

So, when you go out or stay in this Whiskey Wednesday, give a swirl and a light sniff.